At the Paris Olympic Games 2024, India have only two takeaways - winning six medals and losing six medals. Classic case of a double-edged sword. (Medal Tally | Schedule & Results | Full Coverage)
The journey of the 117 Indian athletes and 44 staff members in France, who once dreamed of a double-digit medal haul, ended with a 71st-place finish on the final day. As the Summer Games 2024 wrapped up and no athletes remained in play for the gold medal after Neeraj Chopra ends with Silver, it proved to be a saga of extraordinary records and deep heartbreaks.
Meanwhile, setting aside the setbacks, let’s celebrate the six medals that brought smiles to 1.4 billion faces. These are the athletes who defied the curse of fourth place and clinched their spots on the podium, securing victories at the Paris Olympics.
How India Won Six medals At Paris Olympics 2024?
Manu Bhaker: The Record-Breaker
Manu Bhaker kicked off India’s medal tally on the second day of the Paris Olympics with a bronze in the women's 10m air pistol shooting, scoring 221.7. But her achievement was more than just a podium finish.
Not only did she secure India’s first-ever medal in women’s shooting, but she also ended a 12-year drought in the sport, with the last shooting medal having been claimed by current chef de mission Gagan Narang at the London 2012 Games. Bhaker's victory was a historic milestone for Indian shooting, marking a new chapter in the sport’s legacy that was destined for more glory ahead.
Manu Bhaker & Sarabjot Singh's Pistol Shooting
The second medal for India was brought by none other than Bhaker herself. She with Sarabjot Singh, in the mixed team 10m air pistol shooting event won claimed the bronze again.
The Jhajjar-born shooter fired 98, 98, 95 to end up with a score of 291. On the other hand, Sarabjot shot 95, 97, 97 adding on to score a total of 580 points, finishing third.
Swapnil Kusale's Rifle Wonders
India's third medal in Paris came once again from the shooting range. Swapnil Kusale, a 29-year-old who bought his first rifle with the earnings from his job as a ticket collector at Indian Railways, clinched bronze in the men's 50m rifle 3-position event. Kusale finished with a score of 451.4, securing third place, becoming the first Indian to achieve this feat in history.
Men's Hockey Team's Bronze
The Indian men’s hockey team, historically one of the most successful teams in Olympic history with 8 gold, once again didn't go empty-handed. Led by Harmanpreet Singh, the team secured a bronze medal by defeating Spain 2-1, showcasing one of the best defence ever. However, their quest for silver or gold was thwarted by Germany, who edged them out 3-2 in the semi-finals.
Neeraj Chopra's Silver
Neeraj Chopra, often hailed as India’s "golden man," ended up with silver in the men’s javelin throw at this year’s Olympics. Having set the bar high with his gold-winning performance at Tokyo 2020, Chopra’s extraordinary skills made silver seem almost underwhelming. He missed out on gold to Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who set a new Olympic record with a throw of 92.97 meters.
Aman Sehrawat's Midnight Run
Aman Sehrawat clinched the bronze medal in the men's 57kg freestyle wrestling at the Paris Olympics, making history as the youngest Indian to achieve an Olympic medal. To secure this feat, the 21-year-old faced the challenge of shedding 4.5kg the night before the match. He accomplished this through a rigorous 10-hour training session with his coaches. Raised by his grandfather after losing his parents at the age of 11, Sehrawat overcame Puerto Rico's Darian Cruz with a commanding 13-5 victory in a high-intensity bronze medal contest.
This is India's third-best medal tally, following the peak of Tokyo 2020, where they secured seven medals—one gold, two silver, and four bronze—finishing 43rd in the standings, a significant improvement from the two medals at Rio 2016. The second-best was London 2012, with six medals—two silver and four bronze.
How India missed six medals at Paris Olympics?
India won six medals, but it could have added six more if......
Only if the fourth-place curse had not claimed its victims this time.
1. Lakshya Sen fell just short in the men’s singles badminton bronze medal match.
2. Mirabai Chanu, the lone weightlifting competitor for India, missed out on a podium finish in the women’s 49kg category by a mere kilogram.
3. In shooting, Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan narrowly lost the bronze in the skeet mixed team event to their Chinese rivals.
4. Manu Bhaker was denied a historic hat-trick of medals, as she had to let go of bronze in the women's 25m pistol shooting by a narrow margin.
6. Arjun Babuta finished fourth in the men’s 10m air rifle final with a score of 208.4 points.
7. In archery, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat missed the podium in the mixed team event to USA.
Vinesh Phogat's Heartache
And let's not forget, India's gold or silver hopes in the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling were dashed when Vinesh Phogat was disqualified just before the final bout.
The most disheartening aspect was that her exclusion was due to a weight difference of just 100 grams. This setback dashed the dream of securing that elusive gold at 2024. However, there's still a glimmer of hope: if fortune favors Indian wrestling, Vinesh Phogat's appeal for a joint silver medal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport might still turn the tide and make it seven medals for India.
